Funding is requested for a scientific workshop entitled "International Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Meeting". The workshop is under the auspices of Case Western Reserve University and the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America, and will be held from September 16 through 18, 2003. The workshop will be attended by approximately 100 participants and will include five scientific sessions, each one presided by leading investigators and including 6 speakers. The conference, the very first ever of its kind, will focus on the issue of the raising incidence of IBD in the pediatric population worldwide, and address the serious lack of studies on the pathogenesis of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis in children. The major topics will include the development of the immune system in children and its impact on neonatal and adult immunity, the differential reactivity of T-cells in early and adult life in health and disease, the intestinal microbiota and its relevance to IBD, the impact of environmental factors on IBD pathogenesis and manifestations, and new trends in the treatment to pediatric IBD in face of emerging diagnostic and therapeutic technologies. These are completely novel and unexplored areas of undeniable importance to IBD. The outcome of the workshop is expected to define the reasons for the lack of pathophysiology-based research in pediatric IBD and stimulate investigation in areas so far unexplored by pediatric gastroenterologists and IBD investigators. A major goal of the conference is to foster a close interaction and scientific exchange between scientists outside of the field of IBD with established and new investigators interested in Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. An additional goal of the workshop is to expose a substantial number of trainees, post-doctoral fellows and junior faculty members to novel ideas, concepts and methodologies that will become the center of scientific attention in pediatric IBD in the immediate future.